“Heroes are made by the paths they choose, not the powers they are graced with.”

“Heroes are made by the paths they choose, not the powers they are graced with.”

 ― Brodi Ashton, Everneath

Heroes are a part of everyone’s lives. Whether it is someone you look up to, or if they are in the background just doing their job keeping you safe, they are present. While I was working on this paper about the media’s portrayal of heroes since the 9/11 tragedies, I looked up quotes about heroes, simply because I am kind of a quote junkie. This quote from Brodi Ashton really stood out to me and it embodies the ideas which I illustrated in my essay. Even though I did talk about superheroes and people with extraordinary powers, they are only looked at in this manner because of what they chose to do. They never had to fight crime, stand up to terrorists, or evil dictators. It was a choice to do what they thought was right. Pat Tillman’s story goes along with this quote perfectly because he was just another football player, yet he decided to go into the armed service in order to protect his country. In my opinion, it is people like Tillman who deserve all the praise in the world. The people who give up their livelihoods in order to let others keep theirs are the ones who, in my mind, are the purist form of a hero. Even on a local scale, it’s the men and women who are in the police and fire departments who keep people in towns safe from harm that deserve to be known. Not the fictional superheroes, the genuine, real life examples.